


Jacket Stealer

by Songbird321



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Wallflower Bertl, First Meetings, Jacket Stealing, Jacket sharing, M/M, Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 07:16:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5819257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Songbird321/pseuds/Songbird321
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reiner had been eyeing the shy boy in his fiction class for a while. Little did he know he'd meet him at a party of all places.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jacket Stealer

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a prompt for one of my wonderful tumblr friends, Josie, and I liked it, so I decided to post it here as well. I hope you all enjoy!

This wasn’t the first time Reiner had seen him, the tall boy with the dark hair and green eyes. He’d seen him around campus multiple times, passed him in hallways and stairwells. He’d seen him at the gym once or twice. And, most importantly, they had Intro to Fiction together, (however, the boy always sat in the back, and Reiner hadn’t noticed him till the second week when the professor no longer took roll, so he had yet to learn his name.) But he’d never seen the boy at a party before.

And it was pretty clear why he hadn’t. The boy looked as awkward as giraffe stuck in the middle of New York. The apartment was inconveniently small for the gathered crowd, and he was clinging to the wall like he desperately wanted to be part of the wallpaper. His roommate has probably dragged him here, and had quickly abandoned him and became one of the mindless party zombies that filled the space. So the boy had defaulted to becoming invisible. It seemed to be working too, few people were paying him any mind, much too absorbed in their own drinking and merriment to notice the kid awkwardly standing against the wall. It was almost like the boy didn’t exist.

His invisibility cloak didn’t work on Reiner, though. The blonde’s gaze had zeroed in on him almost immediately, and he’d been working out a strategy to get over there all night. Not that he needed a strategy to go talk to him, he’d had that planned for weeks. No, the real strategy was in crossing the sea of rowdy college students that stood between them.

Just as Reiner charted a course to get him safely through the room, the boy pulled himself away from the wall. Eyebrows furrowing, Reiner frowned as he watched the boy skirt across the edge of the room and disappear through the backdoor that led to the balcony. Interest piqued, Reiner dismissed himself from the semi-coherent conversation he was almost a part of and moved to the backdoor as quickly as possible. People yielded much more willingly than he’d expected.

The chill November night air felt like heaven as Reiner stepped into the doorway. A light breeze was blowing, rippling his hair and cooling off his skin from the humid air of the crowded apartment. He took a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill his lungs for a moment before crossing the threshold onto the balcony. The back of the apartment complex really as something else: a labyrinth of wooden steps zigzagging every which way and leading to countless porches and balconies all up and down the surrounding apartments. Many people had strung lights up around their porches, creating a soft light almost like stars. Artificial stars. It was the most artsy thing Reiner had ever seen, and he was tempted to snap a pic and send it jokingly to his friend Sasha with the caption “aesthetic.” But he didn’t. Because he was on a mission.

The boy was standing a little ways off, at the top of a set of steps that led to the path that led out of the labyrinth. His shoulders were hunched, as if he were still trying to feign invisibility. Reiner pushed his shoulders back and approached the boy with a smile on his face. The boy heard his footsteps on the wood, and turned to address him with a curious expression.

“Hey,” Reiner greeted. The boy jumped, turning to him with wide green eyes that looked incredible in the artificial starlight. “You’re in my Intro to Fiction class, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” the boy replied, surprised to have been recognized. “You’re Reiner Braun, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. Surprised you know my name,” the blonde answered. The boy shrugged.

“I’m pretty good with names,” he said shyly.

“And that makes me feel worse that I’m horrible with them,” Reiner said, hoping he sounded smooth and not arrogant. “Remind me of yours?”

“Bertholdt. Bertholdt Hoover,” the boy replied with a small smile of understanding. Reiner felt him heart flip.

“Bertholdt Hoover. Nice name,” Reiner nodded, settling back against the wooden railing with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Thanks,” Bertholdt replied awkwardly, hands shoved in his pockets. He bit his lip.

“Are you on the soccer team?” Reiner asked.

“No,” Bertholdt shook his head with a small laugh. “My roommate is, though, and he promised he’d bring me here so his friends could meet me.” Reiner nodded, internally high-fiving himself for nailing that roommate suspicion. “How about you?”

“Nope, a friend brought me here too.”

“Which player do you know?”

“Jean Kirschtein?”

“Oh, my roommate’s Marco Bodt,” Bertholdt said animatedly. “Jean’s the one he’s dating, right?”

“Yeah!” Reiner exclaimed, beaming. “What a coincidence! You’re the roommate Marco keeps telling us about?”

A blush rose in Bertholdt’s cheeks, more endearing as any compliment Reiner could ever hope to contrive. The blonde felt his heart flip again; damn, this boy wasn’t even trying and already had him beat. “Y-yeah, I guess. W-what does he say about me?”

“All good things,” Reiner said reassuringly. “Like how you’re majoring in English and Psychology, as well as minoring in Neuroscience? What is that? Are you some kind of genius or something?”

Bertholdt shrugged, smiling. “No, I’m just very passionate about literature and brains.” He laughed nervously, crossing his arms over his chest. “That probably sounds really weird.”

“No, no, it sounds cool. Are you on the premed track?” Reiner questioned.

“For now. I might switch to criminology, though,” Bertholdt replied, shrugging yet again. “I don’t know, I’m really interested in human behavior. That probably also sounds weird.”

“Not at all,” Reiner insisted. Bertholdt smiled again, looking down at his shoes. “Am I weirding you out?”

“No…”

“No, please tell me. I’ve been told I can come on a little strong.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Bertholdt laughed lightly. “I’m just… awkward.” He readjusted his arms, unconsciously drawing Reiner's attention to them. Bertholdt’s arms were bare.

“Dude, how are you not freezing?” Reiner asked suddenly.

“I’m fine,” Bertholdt replied. But the goosebumps on his arms said otherwise.

"You're shivering," Reiner observed.

"I'm fine, really," Bertholdt insisted

Without a second thought, Reiner pulled off his jacket and offered it to the brunette.

“Oh, no, I couldn’t,” Bertholdt protested, raising his hands in protest.

"Take it," Reiner instructed.

"Reiner, no." 

"Come on, you stay out here any longer like this and you're gonna catch a cold."

"I'll be fine," Bertholdt replied earnestly.

“I insist,” Reiner replied, pushing the jacket closer to Bertholdt, who still refused. “Don’t worry, I’m wearing long-sleeves. I’ll be fine. Please, you’re shivering.” Bertholdt eyed the jacket wearily. “Come on, from one friend to another.” The brunette carefully accepted the jacket and slipped it on. The sleeves were a tad too short, but the jacket itself was a little too big, hanging off Bertholdt in the most perfect and adorable way. Reiner smiled in spite of himself.

“What?” Bertholdt questioned nervously, the blush on his cheeks glowing bright red.

“Nothing. You just… that jacket looks good on you,” Reiner complimented, smile widening.

Bertholdt looked away again, a smile tugging at his lips as well. Reiner’s heart gave a double flip.

“So what’s your major?” Bertholdt asked shyly, chancing eye contact again. Reiner moved to sit on the top step and patted the spot next to him, prompting Bertholdt to take a seat. The brunette consented and settled in next to Reiner. It was a tight fit, both of them as tall as they were. Their knees were almost touching. Reiner could feel the nervousness radiating from Bertholdt, and since he’d completed the mission of introducing himself, he claimed his new mission as assuaging the boy’s fears. Also to warm him up, considering how the brunette was still shivering slightly.

“I’m majoring in Political Science and English,” Reiner answered. “On the pre-law track.”

“Wow,” Bertholdt replied, nodding. “That’s awesome.”

“It’s really neat,” Reiner replied. “And hey, you’re the first English major I’ve met. We should try to take more classes together.”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” Bertholdt smiled. Reiner smiled back. The rest of the night on the porch was a bit of a blur, more small talk, breaking the ice between them. Laughing. Forming inside jokes. Huddling together for warmth. Promising to sit together in Fiction on Monday. Sharing numbers. It was like a dream almost, a dream that ended when Reiner got a text from Marco saying that he was taking Jean home. Which really meant that Reiner had to take them both home. And since Marco was staying over with Jean, that meant leaving Bertholdt here.

They parted ways with a slightly awkward but just right hug, instigated by Reiner.

“Wow, you’re a really good hugger,” Reiner commented as he pulled away.

“Thank you. I’ve heard that before,” Bertholdt shrugged awkwardly. “I think it’s cause I make a point to make every hug count.” Reiner’s heart flipped for the thousandth time that night. “It should mean something, you know? Cause you never know when you’re gonna get another one.”

“That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard,” Reiner said. Bertholdt blushed. “And I assure you, this was not our last hug.” The blush intensified. “I’m glad I got to meet you tonight.”

“Yeah, you too,” Bertholdt stuttered. Reiner waved, waiting for Bertholdt to wave back before going off to find his friends.  
That night, once he got Jean and Marco home safe, Reiner sat up in the common room, absently watching the TV and letting the events of the night replay in his mind. On his third rerun, a thought struck him. 

**Reiner: Jacket stealer.**

**Bertholdt: I’m so sorry! I forget I had it on. I can bring it to Fiction on Monday?**

Reiner smirked to himself. 

**Reiner: Or you could bring it to the coffee shop on the corner tomorrow at 10:30???**

He hoped the three question marks made it seem less forward. He had always been told that he could come on a little strong and he could practically the see the panicked look Bertholdt would get on his face when he realized Reiner was asking him out and the image made his heart flip yet again and…

**Bertholdt: That would be great. See you then.**

**Bertholdt: ☺**

Reiner was honestly surprised his heart didn’t give out on him in that moment for the explosion of happiness that occurred from that one text message, and the aftershock of love that followed from how adorable the added smiley face was.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> Check me out on [tumblr](http://pretty-eyes-jaeger.tumblr.com) for more Reibert, SNK, and general nerdiness.


End file.
